#mcwidow

After calling the hospital and assuring her kids that their little sister was going to be fine and they could visit her as soon as they finished school, Meredith and Ellis made their way to Grey-Sloan. Every cough and wince from her little girl broke Meredith’s heart. She couldn’t get her into the hospital quick enough.

“Momma, do I get to see Dr Mac?”

It wasn’t lost on Meredith that the past few times the kids had come to see her at work that Hayes always seemed to be around. Ellis was entranced by his accent, Bailey loving the fact that there was someone he could talk to soccer about and Zola had listened with earnestness to every story Cormac could tell her about Ireland.

“I’m not sure, sweetie. Dr Hayes is very busy and there might be other patients that he needs to see.” They stepped into the elevator and Meredith pressed the button to take them to the paediatrics ward.

Ellis thought for a moment before answering, “But momma, I thought I was going to be a patient?” she was slightly confused.

Meredith smiled down at her, swinging her joined hands. “You are but Dr Hayes but Dr Hayes is Chief of the department so he might have some very sick patients to see.” A tonsillectomy didn’t exactly require the Chief of Paediatric surgery but Meredith had to secretly admit that she hoped Cormac would be around to carry out the procedure. It wasn’t a major surgery but if her daughter was going under the knife, she needed someone she trusted to be holding the scalpel.

“Hmm…” Ellis still wasn’t too sure about the explanation.

When they finally made it to the ward, Meredith checked Ellis in at the nurses’ station and waited for the nurse to find her file.

“Excuse me!” Ellis grinned up at the nurse who smiled at her.

“Hi there, sweetie, is everything okay?”

She nodded vigorously, “Is Dr Mac working today?”

“Dr Mac?”

“Momma says he’s in charge here and he has a funny accent!”

Meredith didn’t know whether to laugh or to wince, “Sweetie, we don’t say that Dr Hayes has a funny accent.”

“Sorry momma,” she have Meredith a cheeky smile.

The nurse chuckled, “You’re looking for Dr Hayes? You’re in luck, he’s working today and I think he just got out of surgery.”

“Oh, we’ll be happy to see whoever free at the moment, won’t be, Ellis?” She looked down at her daughter who shook her head with conviction and a pout.

Giving Ellis a gently smile, the nurse whispered, “I’ll see what I can do for you, honey.”

The response was enough to melt Ellis’ pout into a grin. Once the nurse had pulled up Ellis’ file, Meredith led her into one of the examination rooms and lifted her onto the bed. Ellis kicked her legs back staying uncharacteristically quiet since her throat had begun to ache again.

They hadn’t waited for too long when there was a light tap on the door and Cormac popped his head around.

“Am I alright to come in?”

Ellis’ grin was so large, all her teeth were on show. “Dr Mac!” She squealed in delight before almost immediately wincing again.

“Baby, you’re gonna hurt yourself if you yell like that,” Meredith kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back.

Cormac fully entered the room, shutting the door behind him. “I heard that there was a little Miss Grey here asking to see me?”

Quietly giggling, Ellis was bouncing up and down as she nodded at him making Cormac chuckle.

“Hayes, you really don’t have to do this,” Meredith whispered knowing that Ellis wouldn’t be pleased if she sent him away.

“Nonsense, I have some free time in my schedule and I can’t keep away from this little cutie now, can I?” the comment ignited a fresh set of giggles from the youngest Grey-Shepard. “Now what seems to be the problem here?” Cormac pulled a stool over and sat down in front of Ellis.

“My throat hurt and it's itchy and my… my…” She looked up at Meredith trying to remember the word.

“Tonsils,” Meredith gently encouraged.

“Tonsils!” Ellis winced from the sudden yell and brought her voice back to a whisper. “Tonsils are big momma said.”

“Well, that’s just not going to do, is it?”

Cormac checked her tonsils before doing a quick swab to send to the lab. Whilst Meredith knew that he was just going his job, Meredith felt her stomach do backflips when she saw how gentle Cormac was being with her daughter, how he checked in on her with every step and made sure she wasn’t scared. The way he would crack a joke or make a funny face to take Ellis’ mind off the discomfort that she was feeling.

“No surprise but looks like you’re right, Grey. I need to send the swab off just to confirm but I’m going to book her surgery in for this morning if that’s alright. I’ve got some time so I can do it.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind doing the surgery?” She didn’t want to bother him if he had other surgeries going on.

Ellis huffed out a breath making both adults turn to her. “No surgery unless Dr Mac is there,” she demanded crossing her arms over her chest

Cormac held out his little finger to Ellis, “I pinky promise I’ll be the one doing your surgery.”

Ellis looped her pawn finger with his, “Okay then!”

Meredith’s heart fluttered seeing the scene. ‘Get a grip.’ She yelled to herself. The more control she tried to gain, the more her heart continued to fly with her stomach doing acrobatics.

***

Cormac’s schedule must have been fairly clear because it wasn’t long before Ellis was able to go in for surgery. Amelia had joined Meredith in the family area, knowing that Meredith would be going out of her mind with worry even though the procedure didn’t hold many risks. It was one that Cormac would be a seasoned pro at. Eventually, Meredith caught sight of a black scrub cap and immediately stood up. The smile on Cormac’s face eased her worries.

“She’s fine, Grey. Got them both out clean. She’s in recovery right now but it won’t be long before we move her back to her room.”

Meredith let out a sigh of relief, “Thank you so much for doing this.” She fought the urge not to hug him. ‘It was a routine surgery, Meredith. Anyone could have done it,” she forced herself to remember. Anyone could have done it and Cormac knew that but even as the Chief of Paeds, he still insisted on being the one to carry out the surgery and that was what Meredith couldn’t get out of her head.

Cormac shook his head, “You don’t need to thank me, Grey. Go on, head up to her room because I don’t think she’s going to be too happy if she wakes up and you aren’t there.”

***

When Ellis finally came around, she was all smiles. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around the room before she set eyes on her mum.

“Hi there, Ellie Belle.”

“Momma,” she croaked out slightly groggy. “All done?”

Meredith gave her hand a squeeze, “All done, brave girl.” She felt more at ease knowing that her daughter was awake and talking.

Ellis shifted over in her bed, asking Meredith to join her. “Can you tell me a story please?”

Stroking her little girl’s blonde hair, Meredith grabbed ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ from the side table. She’d gotten it ready knowing that Ellis would have wanted her to read something. They were midway through the story when Cormac walked into the room, hands in the pockets of his lab coat.

“Just wanted to check in to see how our little trooper was doing.” An easy smile was on his face and Meredith fought to tear her eyes away from him in case he caught her staring.

Immediately losing interest in the book, Elli gave Cormac all her attention. “Dr Mac thank you!” She held out both of her arms and Cormac walked over before hugging her.

“It was my pleasure,” the sincerity in his tone made Meredith melt a little.

“Will you finish the story please?” She took the book that now rested on the bed and held it out to Cormac.

Cormac arched an eyebrow and Meredith laughed, “I’m not sure whether I should be offended that my daughter doesn’t want me to read to her.”

Worried she’d upset her mother; Ellis threw her arms around Meredith and kissed her cheek. “I love you loads, momma but Dr Mac has an accent.” The novelty of the Irish accent wasn’t going to wear off anytime soon.

“I love you too, Ellie Belle but Dr Hayes might be a bit busy with other patients right now so he might not have the time to read to you. The other kids need him to help too.”

“Oh,” Ellis nodded in understanding. “Sorry, Dr Mac.”

Cormac shook her head, dragging the armchair over to the bed and gently taking the book from the little girl. “You’re in luck, I don’t have any other patients to see to right now, so I think I’m going to be able to finish reading this book to you.” He gave her a wink and looked at the book cover. “No way!”

“What?” Ellis was suddenly worried that Cormac didn’t like one of her favourite books.

“I love this story!”

“Really?”

Cormac nodded and the two of them launched into a conversation about their favourite parts. Meredith could have listened to the two of them talk all day. She loved seeing how intently Cormac would listen to everything Ellis had to say, never hurrying her or seeming annoyed at her constant babbling. He listened and he cared. The moment was cut short, however, when Meredith's stomach growled loudly.

“Momma, you’re the very hungry caterpillar!” Ellis quickly pointed out.

Embarrassed at her stomach picking that very moment to make an announcement, Meredith muttered a sorry to Cormac.

“How about you head down to the cafeteria and get yourself something to eat, Grey, whilst Ellis and I finish the book?”

She hesitated for a moment; it was no lie that she was starving having not had anything to eat since dinner last night. “I can’t just leave you here, you have work.”

Cormac waved off her arguments, “I think my department will survive, you might not if you don’t eat soon. So, go!”

Meredith looked down at her daughter, “Do you mind if momma goes to get something to eat?”

Ellis shook her head, “Nope, I’ve got Dr Mac.” Meredith was pretty sure Ellis wouldn’t even notice if she didn’t come back as long as Cormac was around.

Shuffling out of the bed, Meredith grabbed her handbag and kissed Ellis’ cheek, “Momma won’t be long.” But Ellis had already launched into a new conversation with Cormac.

She quickly grabbed a bagel and some coffee before heading back up to the room. Even though Cormac had said he had the time to read to Ellis, she didn’t want to take advantage of his kindness. She knew Ellis could be a little demanding at times and she didn’t want him to feel as though he was under any obligation to stick around.

As she walked back onto the paediatric floor, she looked through the window of Ellis’ room to see her daughter hysterically laughing at something Cormac had said.

“It’s really sweet of him,” the sound of a nurse’s voice behind her made Meredith jump.

“I’m sorry, what’s really sweet of who?” She was a little confused.

“Dr Hayes, him sticking around for so long after his shift.” There was a dreamy smile on the nurse’s face that caused a wave of jealousy to roll over Meredith but she quickly pushed that feeling aside.

“When did his shift finish?” She pressed.

The nurse looked down at her watch, “Probably around three hours ago now?”